Free Me
by KireiHaruka-FF
Summary: She lives a life of distress and full of lies for over 35 years, until she came and freed her from the chains that kept her locked.
1. 囚われる

Title: Free Me

by 希礼遙花

**Haruka and Michiru belong to Takeuchi sensei**

**A/N:** Hello everyone, this is my new penname and account. I'll be a little cryptic about my old one (which I completely stripped off of all my stories) so if you recognize my writing style and/or my old stories, which I'll upload once I upgrade them, and you want to ask if I am who you believe I am then **please** ask me privately. Thank you for taking the time to read this A/N, I hope you'll enjoy my new story.

Summary: She lives a life of distress and full of lies for over 35 years, until she came and freed her from the chains that kept her locked.

_Chapter 1:_ 囚われる (Captured)

At the east shoreline of Muroto city, Kouchi prefecture Japan, 1977,

The young man walked at the shore, daydreaming. Lost in his thoughts he didn't hear the splashing coming from the sea, not until he stumbled clumsily upon something. He cursed under his breath as he turned irritated and readied his foot to kick whatever was in his way.

He stopped midway though when he realized that the object of his irritation was not some random rock but a queen conch shell, quite pinkish and shiny. Everyone with eyes would find it out right beautiful.

Without a second thought he bent over and picked it up, examine it to see if there was a mollusk inside or not, and it came out that there wasn't any. His next move was to put the large shell close to his ear.

"Please give it back!" he heard a female voice pleading, and he almost jump and looked at the shell dumbfounded, thinking that the voice came from inside it.

"Please give it back!" he heard again accompanied with a splatter, which made him to turn his attention to the sea.

"Give it back, it's mine!" another plead; and it was then the young man saw the most amazingly beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life, there in the water. She was the one asking him to give her the shell? He went closer to take a better look.

She was ethereal, aqua long wavy locks covering her nudity, porcelain white skin that made her look almost unreal, and was that a…a tail! He pinched his cheek only to realize that he was not dreaming, and in front of him there was a…mermaid…

He then remembered all the myths he had read as a child and as a young adult about those mythical creatures, and that if by any chance _a human finds a mermaid's birthright gift then the human can claim the mermaid as his own_. Could it be that he was so lucky that he had found such treasure? The woman was beautiful after all, he was no one important but with a woman such as her by his side he could brag to his friends all he wanted.

A wicked smile came on his face and he looked at her boldly.

"This is your birthright gift, isn't it?" he announced and saw the mermaid wide opening her eyes at that. That was all he needed to continue.

"I Kawasaki Ichiro, claim you as my own, dear mermaid! And from now on you'll be my wife! Wahahahaha!" The mermaid paled, as her magic was stripped off of her and legs started to appear where her tail used to be.

Seeing the human laughing so wickedly, she knew that the shell had started corrupting his soul already. She couldn't do anything anymore, it didn't matter if she wanted this or not, he had claimed her and she was now forced to obey his wishes. She could only claim her life again if she could have the shell back.

The man saw through all her weaknesses as her body changed to a human form. She couldn't swim without her tail and she wouldn't be able to walk normally at first either. He immediately took advantage of those facts and before she could do anything or protest he tied her hands behind her back with his belt and dragged her out of the water easily. Still laughing maniacally.

She couldn't fight and free herself, whatever she might try it would be futile. She was magically bonded with this human; unless somehow she could have her queen conch shell back, it would be impossible to break the spell. Her immortality would also be no more, and from now on she would age like a normal human.

~o~

The night had started falling and covered her nudity, but he still had enough sense in him to take off his shirt and cover her body from the public eye. He was lucky that his house was not far from the shore.

Once behind closed doors, he shoved the girl into a room and locked the door as he exited.

He had to hide the shell, so she won't find it.

"Want to hide something? Leave it in plain sight!" he murmured and found the most ridiculous object on his desk, a lamp, and put the shell inside it. Nobody would ever thing to search for something that precious inside a lamp!

"Now back to my trophy girl," his wicked smile returned to his face as he walked over to his closet, picked a pair of pants and a shirt and made it back to the locked room. He opened the door and before he could react he felt an impact hitting him. He almost lost balance but he was a young and strong man something like that barely affected him.

He turned and looked at the mermaid girl, who had her hands still tied up behind her back; she had a furious look upon her blue eyes.

"What was that for?" he questioned and raised a mocking eyebrow.

"Give my shell back, human!" she barked and attempted to push him with her body one more time. This time he caught her and shoved her on a nearby chair.

"Look! I claimed you, you are mine now, so you either, cooperate and have a happy life with me, or you decide to be a pain and you'll be locked most of the time! It's your choice," he exhaled and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had to be patient with her, and show that he trusted her, so he released her hands.

"Here I brought you these clothes for now, and tomorrow we will go to shop new ones," he offered her the garments and even though she was irritated with his behavior she decided to take them. She would play good for now and maybe she would be able to find her shell one day and leave this place.

She was far from an idiot, and if that human wanted to make a trophy out of her then she would take as much from him as she could!

"That's a good girl now, see it's easy to be nice," he mocked and she glared at him.

"So what's your name?" he finally asked and regretted it the moment she opened her mouth and made a shrilling sound.

"That's my name, human," she replied and smirked at his frown.

"Then we have to find another name for you." the aqua haired mermaid shifted her eyes in annoyance as the young man was in deep thoughts.

So now she would have to even live with a human name, too? Why life was being so cruel to her?

Her train of thoughts was interrupted when the man in front of her started talking again.

"I found it, I'll call you Michiru!"

"What kind of name is that, human?" she barked at him again.

"It is a pretty girl's name and very Japanese too, so you need to get used to it, I can't have you go around shrilling at others' ears when they ask for your name! Oh and you have to stop calling me human, my name is Ichiro!"

She knew the discussion was over, she knew that her life as she knew it was also over. She couldn't afford to even be locked, so she had to make her heart as hard as a rock and lie to herself and him if she wanted to survive.

And so she did, for over thirty five years…

**TBC**

~o~

A/N: Thank you for reading


	2. 巡り会い

Title: Free Me

by 希礼遙花

**Haruka and Michiru belong to Takeuchi sensei**

Summary: She lives a life of distress and full of lies for over 35 years, until she came and freed her from the chains that kept her locked.

Chapter 2: 巡り会い (Fortuitous Meeting)

**Important notes:** "kaasan" (母さん) short of お母さん(okaasan) : mother

Thirty five years later,

Muroto city, Kouchi prefecture Japan, 2012,

A tall young woman in her twenties walked down the street, at the center of the small town. She was wearing a grey pencil above-the-knees-length skirt and white elegant button shirt, accompanied with pumps, made her look all sexy and classy. Her short blond hair styled in a feminine way with a clip holding her wild locks in place.

She had a job interview! That much was obvious from her attire. She was going to be interviewed for the head waitress position of the fanciest restaurant of this town.

She took a deep breath and looked at the small map she had with her. She had moved in Muroto three days ago and she had no clue where the restaurant was located. But the brief look on her map confirmed that she was close. She walked a bit more and then she spotted the building she was looking for.

She stood there and looked at the building for a moment, took another deep breath and entered. She climbed up the stairs and reached the restaurant's door. When she entered she saw a teenage girl seating at the reception. She only looked at her without saying a word; as she was suppose to do when customers were entering. The tall blonde ignored that little fact, which was considered plain out rude in their society but still, she was there for a job interview not as a customer.

She bowed her head slightly in acknowledgement, to which the teenager didn't respond. That was the cue the job seeker needed to speak.

"Excuse me, I'm here f…" before she could finish the sentence she heard a loud yelling coming from probably the kitchen. Both the woman and the teenager looked at the direction the yelling was coming from. The blonde then made a face as she looked at the girl and the latter gave her a death glare as she stood from her chair picked up her school bag and started walking towards the older woman.

She stopped for a moment,

"Kaasan, someone is here!" she said loudly and the older woman paled.

The girl walked past her, not before giving another death glare to her, and off she was.

What has she done! Enraging the owner's daughter or something, damn she was so going to be kicked out.

Her train of thoughts was interrupted when she heard a soft voice. She turned only to have her breath caught up her throat. In front of her was standing the most gorgeous and elegant woman in her fifties, clad in kimono, she had ever seen in her entire life.

Her mouth hanged open, and the blonde was unable to even utter a mere word.

~o~

"YOU'LL DO AS I SAY!" yelled the man. But she was not afraid of him or of his yelling.

"Don't yell at me!" she replied in a calm voice.

"You promised that I could have my own business, and you wouldn't interfere in my choices! So stop yelling at me, Hikaru is outside. And don't forget that you forced me into this life when you took my shell. For once in these thirty five years stand up as a man and keep your damn promise!" Yes she was still bitter about that; she hadn't found it in her to forgive him. He was not a bad man, and her life with him as human was not bad either. She even gave him a daughter. But she never learned to love him, if it wasn't for her daughter, Hikaru, who she loved more than any immortality and freedom she used to have, she would have thought that her heart had turned completely cold.

He frowned at her remark and the reminder of his sins, so he dropped the subject all together.

As on cue, Hikaru's voice broke into the silence they had dropped into.

_"Kaasan, someone is here!" _

She glanced at him quite unhappily, just before she made it out of the kitchen only to see Hikaru giving a death glare to whomever that tall woman was, as she passed by her and walked out of the door. The woman seemed troubled enough for Michiru to know that it was completely Hikaru's fault, knowing her daughter's temper and always cold approach to strangers.

"May I help you?" she asked softly and caught the tall woman's attention. To Michiru's entertainment the young woman's expression changed from troubled to dumbfounded, from one moment to the other. Typical human reaction when meeting her for the first time, she was aging at a human pace and she looked like any other woman in her fifties but her charm was still there.

"Is it something that you want? We are not open yet," she attempted again, and the woman seemed to be able to escape from the little spell, Michiru's charm had casted on her.

"Oh! I'm sorry, my name is Tenoh Haruka, I'm here for the job interview,"

"The job interview?" Michiru looked at the clock on the wall for a moment.

"Isn't that in half an hour, Tenohsan?"

"Should I come later then?" asked the blonde woman. Michiru thought for a bit and smile at the her.

"It's quite okay, we can have you interviewed right now, if you are ready. I'm Kawasaki Michiru, I'll interview you." she bowed slightly in greeting.

"Thank you very much Kawasakisan," Haruka returned the slight bow.

"Before we start though…" she stopped for a moment,

"Kawasakisan, it seems that I made your daughter upset some how, I deeply apologize," she finally said and bowed deeply in apologetic manner. Michiru was taken aback by the honesty of the woman in front of her.

"Tenohsan, please raise your head! I believe I should be the one apologizing for my daughter's behavior, not the other way around," Haruka straighten up her body as she was told and smiled at the older woman.

"So, let's proceed with the interview, follow me if you please." The aqua haired woman said and showed the way to the tall blonde, who followed her in her small office.

~o~

**TBC**

A/N: Michiru's sir name is her legal husband's name.


End file.
